disney world resort hotel – A Blog About Disney Stuff

We’re anxiously counting down the days until the Disney World theme parks reopen next month!

Magic Kingdom

But before they do, we’ve already booked a stay at one of the Disney World’s resort hotels which will be reopening in just a matter of days!

We’re already shown you guys our attempt at trying to place a MagicBand order now that the parks have an official reopening date and now we’re back to walk you through our experience with Disney World’s online check-in system!

View of Magic Kingdom From Disney’s Contemporary Resort

Disney World is encouraging all guests to use online check-in since it’s quick, easy, and perhaps most importantly — contactless! You can do this on either Disney’s website or using the My Disney Experience app. Once you begin to check-in, Disney will ask you for your contact information so they may communicate with you via text. And don’t forget — starting June 22nd, guests will be able to access a way to virtually chat with Resort Cast Members via the My Disney Experience app.

Screenshot from Disney World’s Online Check-In

Disney World says they may send you up to two emails or text messages prior to your arrival notifying you when your room ready. If you’re already received your MagicBand in the mail, you might receive up to three additional emails so you can go straight to your room and bypass the front desk completely. You’ll be able to unlock your room via My Disney Experience’s digital key feature or using your MagicBand.

Screenshot from Disney World’s Online Check-In

Standard check-in will still be available, and guests whose MagicBands have been shipped to the resort will be able to pick them up at the front desk. For the next step, Disney asked us what our estimated arrival time was and if we’d like to have housekeeping service every other day (or every 4th and 8th day for Disney Vacation Club members) or decline it completely.

Screenshot from Disney World’s Online Check-In

We were told every other day housekeeping would include light cleaning services such as the emptying of trash bins, replacement of linens, replenishing bath amenities including facial tissue and toilet paper, as well as an in-room coffee supplies including cream, sugar and other sweeteners.

Screenshot from Disney World’s Online Check-In

If you have multiple rooms reserved, your selection will be applied to all of the rooms on your reservation.

Screenshot from Disney World’s Online Check-In

For our resort, we were still allowed to make up to two-room location requests, although not every Disney World hotel offers guests this option in the app. Based on which resort you’ve selected, you might have to make your room requests over the phone.

Screenshot from Disney World’s Online Check-In

Once we finished our online check-in, we received this confirmation screen and were instructed to use Disney World’s Direct-to-Room service upon our arrival.

Screenshot from Disney World’s Online Check-In

This means we’re all set to head straight to our room once Disney World texts us our room number! We can use either the app or our MagicBands to unlock our door since we bringing some MagicBands from a previous trip that are already linked with our accounts.

Screenshot from Disney World’s Online Check-In

All in all, the check-in process couldn’t be more straight-forward or easy-peasy! Let us know if you have any questions regarding your trip to Disney World and we hope to get them answered for you while we wait for ticket sales and bookings to resume once the new reservation system is unveiled!

Do you have an upcoming stay at Disney World this month? Let us know if you’ve already completed your online check-in below!

From our friends at www.disneyfoodblog.com
Filed Under: Disney News, Featured, Walt Disney World, bypass the front desk, chat feature, contactless, decline housekeeping services, direct-to-room, disney world resort hotel, every other day housekeeping, light housekeeping, MagicBand, My Disney Experience app, online check-in, online check-in system, resort hotel, room number, room preference, standard check-in, step by step, text messages, unlock your door

Things have been shaken up in Disney World and we are here to help you sift through it all.

Epcot Monorail

Quick recap: Disney World closed in March, kept accepting reservations, announced reopening dates, then wiped out existing dining and FastPass+ reservations. Now what? Disney is still sorting our their plan of action for the reopening, but let’s take a look at each part of your vacation to see what they are currently refunding!

Disney World plans to open Magic Kingdom and Disney’s Animal Kingdom on July 11th followed by Epcot and Disney’s Hollywood Studios on July 15th. To help limit the parks’ capacities, Disney is rolling out a new reservation system. But what does that mean for guests who already booked resort reservations?

Disney World Resort Hotels

As the closure has been extended, Disney has been cancelling and refunding hotel reservations that were scheduled during the closure automatically.

Animal Kingdom Lodge

Disney retracted their previous announcement that Resort Hotels (Other than Disney Vacation Club and Disney’s Fort Wilderness) would be reopening and have not released a reopening date for these other hotels. However, in order to accommodate guests with existing reservations, Disney World placed a hold on new hotel and ticket reservations. Guests with existing Resort reservations will have priority access to the new park reservation system.

Disney World Tickets

As we mentioned, you can’t purchase a new ticket right now, because Disney is focusing on guests with existing tickets for the time being. But with all the different types of Disney tickets available, Disney World is handling each one a little differently.

Park Tickets

Unexpired multi-day park tickets or date specific park tickets that would have been valid on March 12th are still being extended through December 15, 2020. Or, you can apply the value from an unused ticket towards a ticket at a later date.

Expedition Everest at Animal Kingdom

At this time, park-hopper add-ons will NOT be automatically refunded. According to a Cast Member we spoke with, “It will not happen automatically do to the fact that we currently do not have information on if our Guests will be able to park hop.”

Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway sign

Disney’s new reservation system will require guests to book a ticket for a specific date, similar to how Shanghai Disneyland reopened. Guests with resort reservations will have priority access to this new system. Guests will also be required to have a valid park reservation and admission before they can book dining or other experiences. We will keep you updated when we hear more details about this new system!

Florida Resident Discovery Disney Tickets

Florida Resident Discovery Disney Tickets are currently valid through September 30, 2020.

Disney World Annual Passes

Disney stated that Annual Passholders might have access to special experiences and priority booking once the parks reopen. However, the website is still reflecting the same cancellation policy from the closures.

Special Ticketed Events

During the closure, Disney has been refunding event tickets for cancelled events including Disney’s After Hours, Villains After Hours, Early Morning Magic, and H20 Glow Nights.

Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party in Magic Kingdom

Disney has discontinued ticket sales for upcoming events such as Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, but a Cast Member confirmed that — as of now — the tickets are still valid. We will keep you updated as we learn more about these parties.

Disney World Dining

In anticipation of the reopening, Disney has canceled all existing dining plans and dining reservations “including Disney dining plans included in packages.”

©Disney

So if you grabbed an advance dining reservation, you booked a Disney Dining Plan with your trip, OR you received a free Dining Plan with your vacation package — these will be automatically canceled and refunded. This cancellation applies to plans from May 28, 2020 through September 26, 2021.

All pre-paid dining or dining experience reservations will be automatically refunded and you will not be charged a cancellation or no-show fee.

Be Our Guest

Note: This does not mean Disney will not have dining plans or reservations by 2021, they are just clearing their current bookings to make way for a new system.

Once the new reservation system is live, the traditional 180 day booking window will change to a 60 day booking window prior to the reservation date. Additionally, if you are a Tables in Wonderland member, your membership will be extended by the number of days the parks are closed.

Cinderella’s Royal Table

Similar to the park reservation system, once the new dining reservation system goes live, guests with existing reservations will receive priority access to rebook dining reservations.

Now What??

A LOT has changed in the past several hours, so things are very much up in the air. Take a deep breath and know that you aren’t alone in this. We’re tracking down as much info as we can and will keep you posted here at DFB with the most up-to-date news we have!

If you have questions about your booking, you can call (407) 934-7639 for Disney Customer Support or use the chat feature to message with someone on the Disney World website. To cancel or change your reservation, you can do so online using My Disney Experience.

As you can imagine, Disney World is receiving a high volume of calls and messages, so there might be a bit of a wait. If you booked your trip with a travel agent, you can contact them for more details and for next steps. We’re in this together and please let us know your questions so we can help you out as much as possible!

If Disney World adds or changes any refund policies, we will keep updating this post with the newest information!

Click here to learn more about Disney World’s CONFIRMED reopening dates!

What questions do you have for us about the reopening? Let us know in the comments and we’ll do our best to get the answer to you!

From our friends at www.disneyfoodblog.com
Filed Under: disney dining tips, disney parks, disney resorts, Featured, Walt Disney World, advance dining reservation, After Hours, dining, Disney, disney accommodations, disney dining, disney dining plan, Disney free dining, disney hotel, disney reservations, disney restaurant, disney springs, disney springs dining, disney springs restaurant, disney ticket, Disney World, disney world resort, disney world resort hotel, disney world ticket, free dining, free dining plan, hotel reservations, Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party, table service dining, walt disney world resort